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Six European organisations from the plastics value chain have committed, in cooperation with the European Commission, to launch Circularity Platforms aiming to reach 50% plastics waste recycling by 2040. These will drive the recycling of plastic products in Europe and considerably reduce littering volumes.

Plastics Recyclers Europe (PRE), Petcore Europe, the European Carpet and Rug Association (ECRA), the Polyolefin Circularity Platform (PCEP Europe), European Plastics Converters (EuPC) and VinylPlus® have adopted a framework of voluntary commitments to continue and expand existing plastics recycling activities and create additional circularity platforms inspired by the good example set by VinylPlus® and Petcore Europe.

The transition towards a more circular economy is a herculean task that demands a strong commitment and concrete actions from all involved parties. A real industrial transformation can only be accomplished through the strong engagement of the plastics converting industry, backed up by stakeholders from the entire plastics value chain. Divided actions will not make a significant difference. Accomplishment of ambitious sustainability targets also depends on the support of national authorities and European legislators.

The aim of the various Circularity Platforms and their voluntary commitments is to develop common goals and actions for a sector as large and fragmented as the European plastics industry, representing more than 60,000 companies (mainly SMEs). The extremely ambitious goal to reach 50% recycling and reuse of plastics waste as well as 70% recycling and reuse of plastic packaging can only be reached through platforms involving the entire value chain: from raw material producers, designers, converters, collectors and recyclers to brand owners and specifiers.

Our targets are listed in the document “The European Plastics Industry Circular Economy Voluntary Commitments. Towards 50% Plastics Waste Recycling”. Additional measures will be developed in the near future. To download the full document please visit the following link: www.pcep.eu

About VinylPlus®: VinylPlus® is the voluntary commitment to sustainable development by the European PVC industry. The VinylPlus® programme was developed through open dialogue with stakeholders, including industry, NGOs, regulators, civil society representatives and PVC users. The regional scope of the 10-year programme is the EU-28 plus Norway and Switzerland. VinylPlus® actively contributes to the circular economy by preventing the loss of highly valuable materials, such as quality recycled PVC, from the economy. VinylPlus® is registered as a SMART partnership on the UN Partnerships for SDGs Platform. More information: sylvie.famelart@vinylplus.eu | www.vinylplus.eu

About PRE: Plastics Recyclers Europe is the professional representative body of plastics recyclers in Europe. PRE promotes plastics mechanical recycling and conditions that enable profitable and sustainable business, while offering a service platform to its members. Our members constitute 80% of the European recycling capacity, processing more than 3 million tonnes of collected plastics per year. More information: emilia.tarlowska@eupr.org | www.plasticsrecyclers.eu

About Petcore Europe: Petcore Europe is the association representing the complete PET value chain in Europe. Its mission is to ensure that the entire PET industry is well aligned to enhance its value and sustainable growth, to represent the PET industry before the European institutions and other stakeholders, to ensure that PET is positioned as an outstanding packaging material and recognised as environmentally sound, to support and validate innovative packaging solutions from a recycling perspective, and to work with all interested parties to ensure a continuous increase of PET post-consumer collection and recycling. More information: eva.schneider@petcore-europe.org | www.petcore-europe.org

About ECRA: ECRA ( European Carpet and Rug Association) is the membership organisation for the European flooring industry with specific aims of facilitating legislative change to continuously reduce the environmental impact of the industry and to protect the consumer. It works with the EU Commission to create harmonised European standards including encouraging the use of Environmental Product Declarations( EPD’s) for all products. Founded over 20 years ago, and working closely with GUT, it represents over 50 organisations across six countries which account for 85% by volume of European textile floor covering production. GUT ECRA is led by one Board of Directors and represents the European carpet industry at every level. More information: edmund.vankann@ecra.eu | www.ecra.eu

About PCEP Europe: The Polyolefin Circular Economy Platform Europe is a European joint industry value chain initiative. It has been founded by two plastics industry associations (EuPC and PRE) in order to advance the circular economy by increasing the reuse and recycling of polyolefin based products and the use of recyclates as raw material. By working together, our industry aims to ensure long-term sustainability for polyolefin products. More information: info@pcep.eu

About EuPC: European Plastics Converters (EuPC) is the leading EU-level trade association, based in Brussels, representing European plastics converting companies. Plastics converters use plastics raw materials and recycled polymers to manufacture new products. EuPC totals about 45 national as well as European plastics converting industry associations and represents more than 50,000 companies, producing over 50 million tons of plastic products every year. More than 1.6 million people are working in EU converting companies (mainly SMEs) to create a turnover in excess of € 260 billion per year. More information: felix.miessen@eupc.org | www.plasticsconverters.eu